Actress Hayden Panettiere, who portrayed Kairi in Kingdom Hearts, has suddenly passed away. The Hollywood and Kingdom Hearts actress was 36 years old.
Hayden Panettiere was born on August 21, 1989, to a firefighter father and actress mother. The acting business ran in the family, as her younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, was also an actor. Tragically, this is the second recent loss the Panettiere family has experienced, as her brother passed away in 2023 at age 28 from complications around his enlarged heart.
Hayden Panettiere Has Died
Word broke on August 16 that Hayden Panettiere had died. Her passing has now been confirmed by ABC News, which reported that a representative of the actress stated that she had tragically passed away. At the time of publication, no further information has been shared regarding the nature of her death. She is survived by her daughter, Kaya.
Panettiere’s loss may be particularly felt by the Kingdom Hearts community, as in addition to providing the voice of Kairi in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts 2, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, she also played Xion in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Though she appeared in few other games, she also portrayed Samantha Giddings in the original Until Dawn, and reprised the role in a post-credits scene for the 2024 remake of the game.
Beyond video games, Panettiere had a prolific career in acting, with her first major acting role in soap opera One Life to Live as Sarah Roberts, from 1994 to 1997, and her breakout hit in 2006 as Claire Bennet, the immortal cheerleader in Heroes. However, she got her start in TV work at just 11 months old, when she began appearing in commercials. Her feature film debut arrived in 1998 when she provided the voice for Princess Dot in Pixar’s A Bug’s Life. She also provided her voice for the associated A Bug’s Life Read-Along album, for which she would be nominated for a Grammy Award, making her the fifth-youngest nominee at the time. She would go on to be nominated for and to win awards for her roles, including the Teen Choice Awards, Saturn Awards, and Newport Beach Film Festival, among others.
Later in her career, Panettiere would go on to appear in films and TV shows like Nashville, Remember the Titans, and Ice Princess, where she appeared alongside the late actress Michelle Trachtenberg. Panettiere also played the role of popular character Kirby Reed in Scream 4 in 2011, and would return a decade later to the role in Scream (2022) and Scream 6. Her most recent film work included Amber Alert (2024), A Breed Apart (2025), and Sleepwalker (2026). The psychological thriller Sleepwalker would be her final film role, in which she starred as the character Sarah Pangborn, and also served as the movie’s executive producer.
Panettiere had a strong career in acting, singing, and modeling over the years. Most recently, Panettiere had released a memoir of her life in May 2026, entitled This is Me: A Reckoning. Panettiere was also a staunch activist for environmental concerns, particularly those involving protecting dolphins and whales from hunters. More recently, she advocated for those experiencing domestic abuse.
- Released
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September 17, 2002
- ESRB
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E for Everyone: Violence
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 4
